Okay. Open your Bibles, if you
would, to Galatians chapter 4. We're starting a new chapter
today. We'll begin chapter 4 of the book of Galatians. The name
of the message is Ares. Ares. In order to see, though, the
verses we're going to look at, we have to read the context of
these verses that we're going to look at see what's being discussed
within the context of the verses and again our prayer is always
that the Holy Spirit would illuminate the Scriptures and teach us the
things of Christ. That's so important to remember that. Even when we
read the Scriptures, just say, you know, pray the Holy Spirit
will illuminate the Scriptures for you and teach you the things
of Christ before you read. And it's just so wonderful that
I learned that from Spurgeon. He said every time before I read
the Scriptures, I'd just bow my head and pray for the Holy
Spirit's illumination upon the Scriptures. Zane and I were talking
about just the maturity in Spurgeon's walk as a believer was just amazing. And you can see that in his readings. And from what I've heard, he
was a very humble man, too. But you can see it in his writings
and his readings that he was just a very humble man who loved
the Lord and desired the gospel to go out. It was all about Christ. And that's how we are here, too,
isn't it? So we see that Paul, by the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit, has been writing to the Galatian church
about justification before God for the sinner, for chosen sinners
in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the only way we
can be justified is in Christ. There's no other way. And remember
too, as we read this letter, because this is really a letter,
Several commentators I was looking at, they said this is not a theological,
a very theological letter, but
although it contains great truths, which to me one of the greatest
truths is justification in Christ and by God-given faith. And so
that is such a, that's the heart of the gospel, right? Justification
in Christ. You take Christ away, we have no salvation, no justification,
no sanctification, no nothing. We don't have, we have nothing.
So, but it was a letter personally written, again, inspired by the
Holy Spirit of God, but personally written to the churches at Galatia. And remember, Paul was the one
who had went and the Lord had used him to establish these churches.
So they were very dear to him. He loved these folks very much.
They were very, very dear to him. I'm going to take this coat
off. They were very dear to him. And so I'd like us to start,
since this is a letter. And there's no chapter breaks
in the letter, right? This is where we see the chapter
breaks. We're going to see that verse 4, or verse 1 of chapter
4, is a continuation of that which he's been talking about
in chapter 3. So let us remember that this
is a letter written to the Galatians. I have a couple Bibles at home.
I wish I had more and I could give them away. They were, the
Bible, written as letters. And it's amazing, because you
can just see the thought. Take a look if you're at a thrift
store or something. And that's where I found mine.
And it's actually the Bible. It's the King James Bible, and
it's written. They just take the whole book of Galatians,
and it's a letter. It's amazing, because you see
there's no breaks. So you see the thought going
through the whole vein of what's being said. So, let's start in
Galatians chapter three. We're gonna start in verse 24,
and we're gonna read all the way to verse seven of chapter
four. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster
to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
But after that faith has come, we're no longer under a schoolmaster.
For ye are all the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ. For as many of you as have been
baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There's neither Jew
nor Greek, there's neither bond nor free, there's neither male
nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. What a wonderful
verse. And if ye be Christ, then are
ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Now we can see
with this next verse how it just ties right in. Now I say. Now
he's going to expand on what he said in verse 29. He's going
to now expand on that. We're only going to do two verses
today, but all the way to verse 7 he's expanding on the same
thought here. or the fact, that if we're in
Christ, we're Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise.
He says now in Galatians 4.1, Now I say that the heir, as long
as he is a child, dearth nothing from a servant, though he be
Lord of all, but is under tutors and governors until the time
appointed of the father. What a wonderful statement, until
the time appointed of the father. Oh, it's wonderful. Even so,
we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements
of the world. But when the fullness of time
was come, there it is again, appointed of the Father, right?
When the fullness of time has come, God sent forth His Son,
made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were
under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
And because ye are sons, oh, this is a, I just love this verse. And because ye are sons, There's
nothing in us, but because you're sons. How are we sons? From eternity,
God chose us in Christ. Because you're sons, God has
sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts, crying,
Abba, Father. That's what we do now. We cry,
Abba, you're my father. We pray, Heavenly Father, Holy
Father. We didn't do that before. Wherefore,
thou art no more a servant, but a son. And if a son, then an
heir of God through Christ. You see how he's continuing this
thought about being an heir? This whole chapter will be developing
all that, too. It's absolutely amazing. And
then chapter 5 will develop the freedom that we have in Christ,
the absolute liberty that we have in Christ Jesus our Lord.
So we're starting verse 1 and 2 today of Galatians chapter
4. Let's read these verses again, along with verse 29 of chapter
3, because again, they all go together. And as I said, when
this letter was written, there's no chapter breaks in this letter.
And we see the connection from 29 to verse 1 of chapter 4 with the
words, now I say. So he's going to expand. Again,
he's going to expand on the same thought that he put in verse
29. And if ye be Christ, Are you
Christ? Here's some great news. Here's
some wonderful news. If you be Christ, then you are
Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Now I say that
an heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant,
though he be Lord of all, but is under tutors and governors
until the time appointed of the Father. So we see in verse 28,
actually, of Galatians chapter 3, There's neither Jew nor Greek,
there's neither bond nor free, there's neither male nor female,
for you're all one in Christ. We see that that which normally
divides mankind are broken down in Christ. Isn't that wonderful? Absolutely broken down in Christ. It doesn't matter if you're Jew
or Greek. It doesn't matter if you're bond or free. We're one
in Christ. We're one in Him. It's absolutely
wonderful. One in Christ. So, again, the
barriers that normally divide mankind, they're broken down
in Christ. They're gone. There is neither
Jew nor Greek, there's neither bond nor free, there's neither
male nor female, for ye are all one. One what? One body. You see? He's the head
and we're the body, right? We're one. And we're made up
of every tongue, kindred, tribe, and nation of this world. Isn't
that wonderful? That just thrills my soul. That
just thrills my soul. I had a dear friend growing up,
well, when I was in my young adult years, and he was
from Jamaica. Oh, Courtney, because the guy's name, I still remember,
biggest smile on his face. And I think, because he used
to talk about the Lord, I think maybe the Lord had saved him.
And I hope if he did, I'm going to see him again in glory. But
man, just, he was such a dear friend. And my dad, he used to
ridicule me because I had a friend from Jamaica. And I said, you
don't even know him. You don't even know what this
man's like. I said, you cut my skin open and his skin, we both
bleed red. Right? And so, this is wonderful. There's
no barriers. There's no social barriers. There's
no economic barriers. Right? There's no division over
the pigmentation of our skin. That's all that is. That's all
that is. Different pigmentations of skin.
That's all that is. Oh man, we're so wicked, aren't
we, by nature. But look at this. This is absolutely
incredible. We are going to be a people.
We are going to meet people from tribes that no longer even exist.
We're going to meet people of all different tongues. All different
places in Christ. We're going to meet them in glory.
And we're all going to be singing the same song. Worthy is the
Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb that was all
bought by the precious blood of Christ, beloved. Isn't that
wonderful? Oh, I love it. I just get so
excited about that. It's wonderful. So, what the
Galatians were being taught here is that we're one, united spiritually. See, the Judaizers will come
in and they bring in Jewish customs, right? And they're trying to
put those on the Gentiles. Well, culturally, they're so
different, aren't they? But isn't this wonderful? Paul
says, but in Christ, right, we're one. You Gentiles are just like
your Jewish brethren back home in Jerusalem. That's wonderful. So we're united. We're one with
another. And you know, we have far more
in common in Christ than in contrast. We're bought by the same blood,
we have the same Savior, the same Spirit, the same Father.
We love the same Gospel, which speaks about our great substitute.
We have far more in common in Christ than we have in contrast
to one another. Then that's what's being bought
forth here, this great unity that we have in Christ. We see
divisions within society. which are sometimes overwhelming,
right? People go to war over divisions
in society. But all that fades away in Christ. I had to bring this up today,
because it's just so wonderful. It's just so wonderful, because
there's so much division in the world right now. And we see here,
we're one in Christ. Isn't that wonderful? We got
brothers and sisters in Africa. We got brothers and sisters in
Russia. We got brothers and sisters in China. We got brothers and
sisters in the Ukraine. We got brothers and sisters all
over this world, don't we? And we're one in Christ. We're
one in Christ. Isn't that wonderful? And this
is just not a theory, but this is a living experience. Paul's
putting forth a fact. This is not something to say,
well, that's nice that he said that, but this is a fact. Think
of our love for one another. Think of the relationship we
have for one another. Think of how we can go from this church
down south to another grace church, meet people we don't even know,
and have an instant kinship with them. How do you explain that?
Right there. Same Father. You're one in Christ.
You're one in Christ. It's wonderful. I just get so
excited about that. And we see that all through the
centuries. Regardless of race, language,
culture, age, education, or social standing, we are one in Christ. You are my brothers and sisters
in Christ. It's wonderful. The only one who made us different
from anyone else is God. That's it. Well, how does this
unity come about? Well, it's the unity of the Spirit.
It's the Holy Spirit that works that. We can't work that as men.
We see evidence of that, don't we, in the world. It's impossible
with men. But that which is impossible
with men is possible with God. It's possible with Him. Oh, praise
His mighty name. And it arises from the fact that
each born-again believer is indwelt by the same Spirit, we're the
children of the same Heavenly Father, and we're members of
one family, one family, the family of God. Now look at verse 29,
it says, and if ye be Christ, therefore, if we're one in Christ,
right, we're united, if ye be in Christ, then ye are Abraham's
seed and heirs according to the promise. Now Paul's emphasizing the point
that the promise gives rise to an inheritance. If you're an heir, that means
you're an heir to an inheritance. And this inheritance is undefiled. It does never fade away. We can
squander our inheritance here on this earth, can't we? But
you can't squander this inheritance. It's in Christ. It's incredible. There's no squander in this.
Remember the prodigal son? What did he do? He went off and
squandered the inheritance. What's his father do? Oh, son,
come on, let's raise a feast. He was lost, but now he's found.
Oh, my. And that's what the father does.
We were lost. Now we're found. We didn't even
know we were lost, but he found us, didn't he? Oh, praise his
mighty name. He found us. Oh my. So salvation by grace and thereby
an inheritance by grace means that God acts alone. He acts
alone. In splendid sovereignty. I'll
tell you what, His sovereignty is splendid. It's magnificent. It's absolutely magnificent. And this salvation by grace is
without man's aid. See, that's what cuts at the
pride of man. Cut at my pride, Remember I told you, you tell
me God chooses people? I stomped out of that fella's
office. Just my pride. Because I thought I had made
a decision. I thought it was up to me. Well, I found out that
God does work alone, doesn't he? That's why the scriptures
declare salvation is of the Lord. He acts alone, independent of
us. We're just being acted upon. mind. Now, do we willingly come
to Christ? Absolutely. We run to him, beloved,
because God made us willing in the day of his power, to which
we just rejoice that he didn't leave us in the pit we were in.
He pulled us out of that pit and set us upon the rock, that
being Christ. Oh, it's wonderful. And also according to the promise
we see there, according to the promise so that the promise might
be sure to all see, or in Romans chapter 4, 16 it says that the
inheritance is according to grace so that the promise might be
sure to all the seed. That being all God's people.
All God's people. Turn if you would to John chapter
1. So believers in Christ are in
Christ by a union with Him. who is the son of God by nature,
and now we become the sons, think of this, he's the son of God
by nature now because he's bone of our bone and flesh of our
flesh, right? And we are now the sons of grace
because of what he's done in us. Oh my, we're the sons of God. He's the son of God because he's
God. And now we become the sons of God by grace. Look at this,
John chapter 1, verses 12 to 13. But as many as received Him,
to them, what? He gave. To them gave He power to become
the sons of God, to run to Christ, to flee to Christ. See, He gets
all the glory, doesn't He? Why man wants to steal God's
glory, I still don't understand, but I did it too when I was in
religion. So I was just as guilty as everybody
else until the Lord, by His grace, oh, I thank Him for His grace,
that He showed me the truth, that it's all Him. It's all Him. Look at this. many but as many
as received him and we have received him don't we believe on him to
them gave he power to become the sons of God even to them
that believe on his name which were born not of blood so it's
not by ancestry all right see the Jews thought they were in
just because they were Jews it's not by that that's what he's
saying here it's not by that it's not by blood nor the will
of the flesh whoa A lot of talk about man's will,
isn't there in this world? Look what the scripture says.
That's not my opinion. That's the scripture says, nor
the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. God's made us to differ. Oh, my. Now let's read Galatians
chapter 1 verse 4. Oh, gosh. Galatians chapter 4
verse 1. There's my dyslexia taking over,
right? It's right there in my notes, and I'm just reading it
a different way. Oh, my. Galatians chapter 4. Look at
this. This is wonderful. So he's continuing that vein
of thought, remember, in verse 29. And if you be Christ and
you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. So
here he goes. He says, now I say. So now he's
going to, again, he's going to expand on that, which he's just
talked about in verse 29. Now I say, that the heir. Now remember, he's writing to
Christians, so we can read this as to us too. Right? Scripture is written to believers,
right? Look at this. Now I say that the heir, as long
as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be
Lord of all. Now in this portion of Scripture,
verses 1 to 7, we see Paul develop in more detail the meaning of
the word heir. That's why we're going to take
a little slow walk through this. It might take us maybe two or
three weeks, but we'll just do a slow walk through this. I figure
about three weeks, including today, to go through this portion
of Scripture here. And he's just declared in verse
29 the fact that we are heirs. It's a fact. We are heirs. It
is, again, you, it can't be taken away from us because this, this
heirship is in Christ. And it's according to the promise
of God. God can't lie, can he? He can't lie. So Paul here is
going to develop in more detail the meaning of the word heir
and what it applies for us. And again, the fact that we are
heirs according to the promise. And now Paul's going to bring
forth more of what that means. And how blessed we are. How blessed
we are as the believer in Christ that the Holy Spirit's revealed
these truths to us. And that he's still teaching
us, right? Still teaching us. More about Christ. More about...
See, I see in this portion just God's grace just flowing. Just
flowing. I don't deserve this. None of
us do, do we? But this is a fact. Let us always
remember that Scripture proclaims facts, not fiction. Fiction is something what man
cooks in their minds, right? Isn't it? This is fact. This is facts. My. And we're seeing how Paul illustrate,
we're seeing him illustrate before us now what he said earlier in
chapter three about the law being a schoolmaster to the true believer
until the coming of Christ. And then ceasing as such in Christ. So when we're born again of the
Holy Spirit of God, then the law ceases to be our schoolmaster. Now we're taught of God, right? Who teaches us the things of
Christ? God, the Holy Spirit, right? He's our teacher. He's our comforter. And He'll
teach us about Christ. See, in verse 1, the words, that
the heir, as long as he is a child, which is anyone who is an heir
to their father's estate, or another's, while they are underage,
while they're underage, which is being regarded as a child, And this is true from their infancy
to their manhood, till they become a man or a woman. And then we see the words differeth
nothing from a servant. So here's an heir, and he differs
nothing from a servant. Now think of this in spiritual
terms. When we were dead in trespasses
and sins, you could not tell us apart from anyone else in
the world, even though we were heirs. We didn't even know it. You and
I talked about it. We didn't even know. We didn't
have a clue that we were heirs. Heirs of God. Through Christ,
though. Always through Christ. We've
got to keep that there. Always through Christ. Always
through what he's done. Always. And these words differ
at nothing from a servant. It brings forth that at that
point, he's not his own man yet. Right? He's a child. He's not
his own man yet. He's not at his position. Think
of that with us. We're not at the position yet.
God's already appointed us as heirs. We just don't have no
clue. And we look like anyone else
in the world. It's also that he's under restraint. Could you imagine what we would
have done if the Lord hadn't restrained
us before he saved us? We're capable of anything. I
remember hearing a preacher, a grace preacher one time, he
said, we're still capable of it. The only difference between
me and someone in jail is the grace of God. So true, isn't
it? So he restrained us, beloved. And this also means that he's
kept the school of business, which places one in a condition
to correction and chastisement. according to how one behaves. Nor can one at any time have
the free use of their father's estate. They're heirs, they don't
know it, but they can't even have the use of the whole estate.
It's all kept from them. And we're going to see until
the time, though. Until the time appointed by the
father. Oh, isn't it magnificent? I'll
tell you, it just gets better and better, doesn't it? It just
gets better and better. And notice this verse, though
he be Lord of all. We are so rich in Christ. I'm
telling you, we are richer than Bill Gates in spiritual blessings. I'm telling you, he don't even
hold a candle to what we have in Christ. You put all the money in the
world in a big old pile. I'm talking all the silver, all
the gold, all the precious metals, and they don't even come close
to what we have in Christ. Oh my! What an inheritance we
have in Christ Jesus our Lord. And then it says, though He be
Lord of all, He's a rightful heir to it. Just don't know it. I see myself so much and when
I was dead and trespasses and sins in this I Didn't even have
a clue. I was a child of God Didn't even
have a clue So beloved God rejoice we are
heirs in Christ Jesus our Lord according to the promise of God
all by the shedding of the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ
that was shed to redeem our eternal souls and We're heirs by all
that work of Christ. I Heirs in and through the Lord
Jesus Christ. And think upon these blessed
truths. The state of servitude is that of the soul unconverted.
So the state of servitude here spoken of is we're in bonds,
we're slaves to sin. We're slaves to sin. Scripture
says he that committed sin is the slave of sin. That's what
I was. And what is sin? Sin's the bondage
of corruption. And then two, the state of sonship
and liberty is that of a soul justified. We have liberty. We're justified
in and through the Lord Jesus Christ by what he's done. John
says this, Jesus answered, verily, verily, I say unto you, whosoever
committeth sin is a servant of sin. That's the slave, that's
the servitude, right? And the servant abideth not in
the house forever, but the son abideth ever. If the son therefore
shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. Woo, we're free! We're free, beloved. Henceforth,
he goes on, John 15, 15, 16, he says, henceforth I call you
not servants. Now we're servants for the Lord,
right? But listen to this, I call you not servants, for the servant
knoweth not what his Lord doeth. We know things now that we never
knew before. We know how God works. We know how he worked
in our life, we know how he's working in the world. The servant
knoweth not what the Lord doeth, but I called you friends. Friends? God calls us friends? Yeah, that's
what he says here. For all things that I have heard
of my Father, I've made known unto you. He'd done that for
us too, hadn't he? Ye have not chosen me, but I've
chosen you. Amen. And ordained you, time
appointed of the Father, right? Ordained you that you should
go and bring forth fruit. I was reading something today
and this person was saying about generating the fruit of the Spirit
on their own. Well, what does this say? I've ordained you. God's ordained that we bring
any fruit in our lives as the fruit of the Spirit, and it's
being ordained by God. Joy, love, peace, kindness, right? My, it's just incredible. And that
your fruit should remain. It'll remain. And that whatsoever
you ask of the Father in my name, He may give it. And in the state
of full manhood is when, you know when the state of full manhood
is for us? When we go to glory. When we're
glorified. There's no more sin! Woo! My, I'll tell you why. It
gets excited, doesn't it? There's no more sin. No more
sin. Oh, my. Because when we enter
into glory, we are incorruptible and undefiled, and that inheritance
we have will never fade away. Never. Even while we're on earth
here. Oh, it's magnificent. So we're
reminded here that an heir does not necessarily enter immediately
into his inheritance, which we don't, do we? We're born dead
in trespasses and sins. Holy Spirit regenerates us, we
find out we're heirs. And then we enter into that airship,
that inheritance, when we're in glory. Oh, it's magnificent. And all that happens, all those
things happen at the times appointed to the Father. Right? He appointed the time of our
conversion. We know He's appointed our time of death, right? But
death has lost its sting for us. We're going to glory, beloved.
We're going to glory. Oh my. Now let's look at verse
2. It says here, but is under tutors
and governors until the time appointed of the father. I just
love that part right there. The time appointed of the father.
Now the word tutor designates the guardian of a minor orphan.
Because remember, when you're talking about us being adopted
as sons, what were we before? We've always been in Christ,
but the world would consider us an orphan. If somebody adopts
you, you are considered an orphan. We all fell in Adam, didn't we?
See, God's always considered us, though, as his sons and heirs. But this word means, again, in
the Greek, it's the guardian of a minor orphan. The word governor,
now look at that. So, the guardian of the minor
orphan, and then the governor is referring to the steward of
one's prophet. We were dead. Who was our governor when we
were dead? Who watched over us? Amen, sister
in Christ. Who preserved our, who was the
governor over our inheritance? The Holy Spirit of God. God is, right? So the word governor
is referring to a steward of one's profit, or property, I'm
sorry. And the word tutor is the guardian
of the child's person. The governor, the guardian of
the child's property. So one's a governor of the child,
and one's a governor of the property. My oh my. See, God protects us
and watches over us the whole time we're dead in trespasses
and sin. It's right here. My oh my. Now marvel at the words, the
time appointed. These are from an Athenian legal
term referring to an appointed time for the termination of the
minority or one being considered a minor. It's an Athenian legal
term, the time appointed, and it's in reference to an appointed
time for the termination No longer, no longer a child. And when's that time determined
by? God the Father. He's appointed
a time for us to hear the gospel and be regenerated by the power
of God the Holy Spirit and trust in the finished work of Christ,
all by God's work. Oh! And this time, even in Greek
customs, was a time set by the father of the child. So if a
father had an inheritance and he didn't want the son to get
that inheritance until a certain age, he set the time. Just like
even we do sometimes in wills and stuff. Things are set for
grandchildren to receive something at a certain time or somebody
to receive something at a certain time. You can put stipulations
in your will to have all that covered, can't you? and how our
great God protects us and cares for us, oh my, in our state of
unbelief until the time appointed by Him. Until the time appointed
by Him. That's what He's bringing forth
here. Until the time appointed by Him. And Christ Jesus, our
Lord, He has appointed a time when Christ would be revealed
to us. And the more we learn is just Him continuously revealing
more and more. more and more about the great
airship we have in Christ. So we see, turn back to chapter
3, we see that in these two verses, Paul's illustrating what he wrote
about in verses 23 and 24 of chapter 3. Look at this. But
before faith came, we were kept under the law. So he's illustrating
this. Again, he's expanding on what
it means to be an heir for us. We were shut up, we were kept
under the law, shut up unto the faith. Now look at that, isn't
that an incredible statement? We were under the law, but we
were shut up. He knows who his heirs are. We're not shut up just continuously
being under the law, but we're shut up unto faith. Who's made us to differ? God. Shut up in the faith, which should
afterwards be what? Revealed. It has to be revealed. Otherwise we don't know him.
Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to what? To bring us unto Christ.
So that's all being illustrated right there. We were under tutors
and governors until the time appointed of the Father. Isn't
it wonderful? Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster
to bring us unto Christ that we might be justified what? By
faith. Who's that faith in? Christ. In Christ alone. It's just remarkable. And he's
breaking it down into terms that the Galatians would understand,
that we would understand. See, isn't it amazing? The book
is a spiritual book. And you can't understand it unless
you're born again. But when you're born again, He
starts showing us these marvelous truths of the Holy Spirit. And
I'll tell you why. It just leaves me in awe. I was
chomping at the bit to preach this message today. This is incredible.
This is absolutely amazing. So let us marvel at the truth
set before us, that the elect people of God are heirs and assured
of the inheritance. We are assured of the inheritance.
We're assured of it in Christ, long before we enter into it.
This is what Paul's teaching in the verses before us. The
spiritual application in this text is clear, which is the fact
that we were heirs of promise long before the promises were
actually fulfilled in Christ. In God's eternal purpose, both
the blessing and those to be blessed were preordained. God
has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works. but according to his own purpose
and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began. It's just amazing. Until the time appointed by the
Father. So let we who are the redeemed
of the Lord Jesus Christ just be in wonder and awe at how much
we're blessed to behold clearly through divine teaching that
the church had a being in Christ of everlasting right and security
in Jehovah, Jehovah's love, in abidement before the world even
began, before the world was even spoken into existence. In marvel with unspeakable joy
when at regeneration, even now, these precious truths are open
to our view, the view of the born-again blood-washed heir. And let we who are the redeemed
marvel that the whole and every member of Christ's mystical body
was chosen to unspotted holiness in Christ. We were chosen to
unspotted holiness in Christ. In absolute glory, even those
in the present fallen state, which were foreviewed. We were
foreviewed in our fallen state. God already knew. Right? But for by God, through Christ
and His divine mercy and grace, He has provided the solution.
And that's Christ. It's all in Him. It's nowhere
else. It's nowhere else. My, we've
already been provided for in Christ before we were even born.
Before the world ever was. And that which was purposed and
planned by God came to pass in time and space, didn't it? At the time appointed by the
Father, you're born again. My! And we differ nothing indeed
from the whole race of Adam in our sinful origin by nature. We're nothing but children of
sin until grace regenerates our nature. Born again by the Holy
Spirit of God. My oh my, and what joy floods
into our souls when we who are the born again, blood washed
children of God, realize we have a living hope, a living hope,
the Lord Jesus Christ. By the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus Christ, from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible
and undefiled, and that fate is not away. It'll never fade
away. Our inheritance in Christ will
never fade away. I'm telling you, this is the
best news a sinner can hear. And what do we say as a result? Glory be to God. What else can
we say? Glory be to God. Praise His mighty
name. Brother Dave, can you close us
in prayer?